Homecoming Queen
by LyricsArePoetry
Summary: Miley's secret is relieved and now everyone loves her... but where does that leave Lilly? T for possibly language
1. Prologue

**Homecoming Queen:  
Prologue:**

'Oh, my gosh you're Hannah Montana'

Miley Stewart froze and stared at the person who had spoke. It was a girl about the same age as her with a Tennessee accent. She came to her senses quickly and hoped the horror hadn't shown on her face. 'What?' she said, trying to play the fool, hoping it would work. 'I'm not Hannah Montana, for a start she's blonde, to continue she's famous. I'm just a girl'

'She sang that, _you _sang that' the girl said. Miley had realised that as soon as she said that, _I'm just a girl _was hardly the best choice of words. 'I was there' the girl continued. 'in Tennessee when you were on stage and took your wig off.'

Miley was torn then, two options entered her head instantly. The first was to deny it defiantly and the second was to admit it and try to get her to keep quiet about it. Both of which were flawed options. 'Look…' Miley started.

The girl's attention had got off of Miley and turned to the rest of the beach. 'Hey everybody' she shouted. While she was shouting Miley took the opportunity to try to slip away 'It's Hannah Montana'.

Every girl and most the boys on the beach turned to the girl in wonder. The girls arm was outstretched in Miley's directions. Miley stopped and looked at them. Most of them knew her as Miley, they would've believe she was Hannah Montana. She was just dorky Miley here, that wasn't going to change because some girl shouted about it.

'What are you talking about?' Rico said, jumping over his stand and walking towards Miley. He looked at the girl 'That's just Miley'

_Just Miley _was exactly what Miley wanted to hear. Disbelief, after all it wasn't as if the girl could prove it, was it?

'I have proof'

'Oh sweet niblets' Miley muttered in horror. Her hope was fading but she held on to the small bit of hope that it was be unbelievable proof.

'What proof?' Rico asked. By now he was speaking for the whole beach, all of which were looking half in interest, half in disbelief.

'Do you believe me?' the girl asked suspiciously.

'I'm reserving judgment until I've seen the proof' Rico replied carefully.

'Hannah Montana did a concert in Tennessee and when she was there she took off her wig' the girl explained 'she said "Last time I stood on this stage I was six years old, I was just Miley. I still am", she revealed herself as Miley'

'The proof you're not just crazy and making this up?' Rico asked.

'I have a picture of her taking her wig off' the girl replied.

'What?' Miley shrieked despite herself. 'How?'

'When you went back on stage I went to the side of the stage and that journalist had dropped his phone, I blue-toothed the picture to myself and gave him his phone back' the girl replied with a shrug. She got her phone out and after pressing a few buttons showed the picture to Rico, who gasped in shock.

'You're Hannah Montana!' he said staring at Miley, all doubt was removed from his voice.

'That's my cue to run' Miley muttered and did so.

Everyone on the beach chased after her, screaming 'Hannah, Hannah, Hannah' without pause.

Miley headed home automatically, rushing through the door as soon as she was there and shutting it with a loud bang behind her. She sat on the sofa to get her breath back and did her best to ignore the screams from all the people stood outside her house.

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**A/N: Chapters will be longer than the prologue was, they'll be around 1000 words always. Please R&R**


	2. Chapter 1

**Homecoming Queen:  
Chapter One:**

Lilly was lying on her bed lost in boredom when her phone beeped. She sat her insistently and read the text message. '_Everyone knows_' was all it says and it had come from Miley. Feeling confused Lilly sent back '_Knows what?_' Quickly the reply came '_I'm Hannah_' and Lilly stared at the screen of her cell in shock. She had to read it three times before she was sure that she had read it right. She definitely had. Somehow Miley's secret was out.

Without taking a second to think, Lilly pulled on her sneakers, grabbed a jacket and headed towards Miley's house. She was still quite a distance away when she heard the chanting of 'Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah'. It was chanting Lilly was used to, she had heard it hundreds of times when she was backstage of Hannah Montana's concerts.

She thought it was strange, but she found herself thinking about the amount of times she'd been backstage of Hannah Montana's concerts and yet hardly anyone knew about 'Lola'. She had been there backstage for just over three years and she had been friends with Miley was a lot longer. Yet when Hannah made the music video for _True Friend _it was some dancers in it and not her. Miley hadn't even asked Lilly if she had wanted to be in it. Why hadn't she been considered?

Lilly mentally shook herself. She didn't mind that she hadn't been in it, she hadn't even thought about it before. And she really didn't need to think about it now. Right now she needed to be there for Miley. Like she always was.

She arrived at the Stewart house only a few minutes later and found dozens of people gathered around outside, many with posters saying 'We love Hannah' on them. They were all screaming for her to come out. So much for the best of both worlds, Lilly thought. She took the first step in attempting to get through the crowd to the door.

'Oi, no pushing' one girl, who she didn't know from around there said, pushing Lilly back.

'I'm her best friend' Lilly said glaring at her.

'Yeah and I'm the Queen of Sheba' the girl replied. 'When Hannah comes out, we'll see her, you're not getting ahead'

'Well nice to meet you, your majesty' said Lilly with extreme sarcasm before walking away. She sent a text to Miley saying she was going around to the back door. And once she was around there Miley let her in cautiously, before shutting the door quickly the second Lilly was in.

Miley threw her arms around Lilly and Lilly could tell she was having trouble keeping back tears. 'It's gonna be ok, Miles' Lilly said softly.

Miley looked at her 'I wish I could believe that, Lilly'. She turned her eyes to the window by the front door, where the screaming fans were in full view.

Lilly followed Miley's eyes to see where she was looking. She led Miley to the couch and got her to sit down, before running to the window and pulling down the curtain. It took the fans out of view but it didn't make them any quieter. Lilly went back and sat next to Miley on the couch. Slowly Miley explained what had happened with the girl who was in Tennessee, while Lilly listened quietly.

'When I'm Hannah I can deal with the screaming and the fame and all of it, as Miley I can't. I never wanted to be famous all the time, I just wanted to sing. It wasn't supposed to ever be like this, Lilly I don't know if I can cope with this' Miley said as she finished explaining what happened.

'Miley Ray Stewart' Lilly said, firm but gently. 'You're a strong girl. You knew there was always a chance this would happen when you took the wig off. You're just lucky it's been this long before it did happen.'

'So what are you saying?' Miley asked, annoyance in her voice. 'This is my own fault so I should stop whinging about it?

'I didn't say that' Lilly replied. 'I was saying you're a strong person you'll be able to get through this'

'But you think it's my own fault?' Miley said accusingly.

'_Miley!' _Lilly said insistently. 'Stop twisting what I said'

'Well don't imply it then' Miley said. 'Honestly, Lilly, right now I need you here for me not implying things'

'Miley would you listen to yourself' Lilly said, standing up in annoyance. 'I came here the second you text me, the way I'm always here whenever you have a problem. I'm always here, so don't start getting moody with me'

'I'm not being moody' Miley replied. 'and you didn't answer my question'

'I'm not saying its your own fault' Lilly said. 'there was always a chance someone would find out and tell, but taking your wig off on stage in front of thousands of people made the chances higher'

'So it is my fault' Miley said, in a tone that suggested she was trying to guilt trip Lilly.

Lilly stared at her in disbelief. 'I'm not staying and listening to you try to make me feel guilty for being honest, Miley. I'm going'

'Fine, go, see if I care' Miley replied

Lilly walked out the back door and headed back home. She was careful to avoid the fans at the front of the Stewart house who were _still _screaming for Hannah Montana. The thing that annoyed Lilly was, if she didn't know Miley, she would probably be one of these brainless girls standing there screaming for Hannah. She was glad she wasn't.

Arguing with her best friend, though, didn't feel much of a step up. She could barely believe Miley was being so petty. Barely. When she thought about it properly she realised Miley had been like this before, though it hadn't really been so ridiculous before. Miley hadn't even given Lilly a chance to explain herself properly. She was only being honest, it wasn't her fault Miley didn't want to hear it.

Once she got home, she dropped herself down onto the couch and just lay there for a while.

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**A/N: Ok, so I've written the next two chapters already, but you're going to have to review if you want them. ly'all Carly. X**


	3. Chapter 2

**Homecoming Queen:  
Chapter Two:**

_A ten year old brown-haired girl ran forward towards a light-haired girl of the same age. The light-haired girl had a paper part hat on her head, and a giant "I'm 10" badge pinned to her dress. Identical smiles filled the two girls faces as they wrapped their arms around each other._

If anyone had told Lilly then that in just over 6 years time she would be wondering if she even wanted to be friends with Miley she wouldn't have believed it. She knew exactly how she would've reacted, she wouldn't got all defensive and mean, insisting her and Miley would be friends forever because nothing could ever come between them. She knew that was what she always believed. And yet 6 years later that was exactly where she was.

She sighed and turned off the home video. She wasn't really sure why she had been watching it. Maybe she wanted to prove to herself that the girl she thought Miley was did once really exist. As she thought that she wondered if she was being too harsh. Miley hadn't done anything wrong exactly, but at the same time she had done so much.

Lilly flicked on the radio, not wanting to sit in complete silence. "_I'm just a girl with a dream that gone the best of me_", she could've screamed when she heard Hannah Montana playing, but she didn't. She stopped and thought about the line. It explained Miley so perfectly. Lilly wondered if when Robby Ray had written this song for 'Hannah' he had seen Miley the same way she was now seeing her. As thought becoming Hannah had changed her.

Hannah _had _changed Miley, but it hadn't always been so obvious. At times it had even been good, Lilly had been given the chance to see both worlds, through Lola. But the fact was always there, Lola was just Hannah Montana's friend. Just her friend, nothing more, and that was a pretty big shadow to fall behind.

Now though, Miley hadn't done anything, not through choice, not intentionally. It was just that because of this thing that had happened now, Lilly found herself unable to cope, she found herself thinking about all the times Miley had hurt her and let her down. This wasn't even Miley's fault, though, in fact she knew this was Miley's worst nightmare.

Lilly mentally shook her head, her thoughts were running and rambling and making no sense. She needed to make sense of them. Though it barely _did _make any sense, Lilly wasn't even sure how it happened. Miley's secret had been revealed, a girl who had been in Tennessee was on vacation and had recognised her and screamed 'oh, my god, you're Hannah Montana' and it all kicked off after that, the rumour started to spread. The girl, not being the nicest or smartest cookie, proved the rumour to be correct by showing a picture of Hannah taking her wig off. And then…?

Nothing bad happened. Not really, seriously, life-alteringly bad anyway. Miley practically became Miss Popular over night. Everyone wanted to be her best friend - especially Amber and Ashley. Everyone loved her, and Lilly found herself hating Hannah.

Lilly loved Miley, because she was her best but she hated Hannah for what she had done to their friendship.

If she was completely honest with herself, she had never completely forgiven Miley for the Hannah incident at her 16th. Maybe it was selfish, but Lilly had wanted her sweet 16th to actually be about her. They had been planning it for years, they knew exactly how it was going to be. It was going to be epic. Hannah made it epic all right, an epic disaster. She always wondered if she was being petty, Miley had apologised after all, and Lilly wasn't exactly Miss Innocent. She had spoke to the reporter. It wasn't just the 16th birthday though. Miley had betrayed, lied to and hurt Lilly a number of times, all because of Hannah.

The worst part was Lilly knew Miley well enough to know that whenever she acted, she attempted to do the right thing, or put it right when she did the wrong thing. Which made it hard to stay mad at her, which was why Lilly always forgave and forgot.

Except she never quite forgot. Miley's heart being in the right place was part of the reason Lilly had stuck with her for so long. She could put up with and cope with all the Hannah issues as long as at the end of the day she had Miley. Which was why Lilly wasn't coping with Miley's secret being revealed and which was why she was left wondering if she still wanted to be friends with Miley. Because was becoming more and more unsure if Miley was still there underneath all the Hannah drama.

A little harshly Lilly couldn't help but think it was Miley's own fault that her secret was out. She was the one who pulled the wig off in Tennessee. Lilly knew she didn't really think like that though, it was just confusion and anger talking. She wanted someone to talk to out all this. She wanted some advice on what she should do about Miley. But Miley was always the one she spoke to, Miley was always he one who gave her advice. The only other option was Oliver and he was a boy, and Lilly knew straight off that he would be no help whatsoever. He never understand why girls made friendships so complicated.

Lilly felt tears prick at her eyes. Miley and her had been friends practically forever, she used to think that it would always be as simple and easy as it was when they were young. She hated that anything could come between them, but the fact that it was Miley's dream made it even worse. Lilly now wondered if they were destined to be like Todd and Copper from _The Fox and The Hound. _They were The Popstar and The Normal Girl. The loyalty would always be there, neither would ever destroy the other but the friendship would be completely over in not very long. As she thought about it, Lilly became almost sure that that would happen.

The tears fell from Lilly's eyes then. She wiped then away with her hand, but fresh ones fell again. She felt like her heart was breaking in two. Miley was like a sister to her, she was closer than close to her. She realised that it wasn't just a boyfriend who could break a girl's heart. Anyone they got close to could. Miley was breaking Lilly's heart and Lilly knew she probably didn't even realise there was a problem.

Lilly lay down on her bed, on her stomach with her head buried underneath her pillow and tried to take her mind off her so-called best friend. A task that proved horribly hard.


	4. Chapter 3

************

Homecoming Queen:  
Chapter Three:

'Miley, I know it's hard, but you have to go to school' Robby Ray said the next morning when Miley refused to leave Hannah's closet. She had stayed in there all night with music playing loudly directly into her ears to drown out the screams from the fans.

'I'm not coming out' Miley replied, shouting through the door. She had left long enough to go in the shower, but the second she was out she went straight back into the closet. It was the only room in the house with no windows so she couldn't see the fans.

'Miley' Robby Ray continued. 'You can't let them stop you living your life'

'Dad!' Miley said. 'They are crowded around out house and have been since the sun came up. I'm not even going to be able to get out of the house, school will be hell. I am not going'

'Ok, fine' Robby Ray said. 'You just stay in your closet, fail school, have no life, it's your choice'

'Reverse psychology isn't going to work, Dad' Miley replied, seeing right through his plan.

'Do you want them to destroy your life?' Robby Ray asked.

'They already have' Miley replied defiantly.

'No, Miley, you're letting them' Robby Ray told her. 'If you stay in here you're letting them ruin you. Most of those kids out there are exactly that just _kids _they probably haven't even thought about how you feel about this. They just want to see Hannah. You have to stick it out and show them Miley'

'Miley's never going to be good enough for anyone now' Miley muttered. 'Now everyone knows I'm Hannah, everyone's going to want to know her. No one will want to know me.'

'Miley's always been enough for me' Robby Ray said. 'I'm not saying school is going to be easy, because it won't'

Miley laughed bitterly 'Thanks Dad' she said sarcastically. 'that's really going to convince me to go to school'

'I'm not going to lie to you, Miley. Would you rather I said "it'll be fine, nothing'll be different"'

'No' Miley admitted.

'Exactly' Robby Ray said. 'It's not going to be easy, but you need to stick with it. You need to go there and show them you're just Miley. In time they'll get tired of wanting Hannah and go back to seeing Miley.'

'You don't know that' Miley replied. 'You're not psychic, you don't now how anything will turn out'

'We have this exact same conversation before you first got on stage, Miles' Robby Ray said. 'Do you remember that? You were terrified that everyone would hate you, and wouldn't believe me when I told you it would go well. I was right then and I'm right now'

Miley didn't answer. Robby Ray was running out of things to say. He wanted more than anything to help his daughter through this, and he knew the only way through it was her Miley to go to school and stick it out, but he wasn't sure now how to convince her. He would've gone into the closet with her, looked her in the eye while talking, to show he did believe everything he was saying, but she was sat against the door so he couldn't get in.

'You're not always right, Dad' Miley told him.

'I know Miley, nobody's perfect' Robby Ray said.

'Don't' Miley opened the door and shook her head 'don't quote Hannah'

Robby Ray put his arms around Miley. 'It'll be all right, I promise. Now, school'

Miley mocked screaming and grabbed her bag before heading down the stairs ready to leave. Once she got down the fans were in full view, but they were only at the front and side door, not at the door of the kitchen. One silent blessing, Miley thought and shouted bye to her Dad before heading out.

She tried to walk normally, she tried not to be paranoid but she found herself jumping at every noise anyway. By the time she was only a quarter of the way to school she pulled her iPod out of her bag and put on loud in her ears so she could barely hear anything.

She took a different - longer - way to school, which involved a lot of back streets and thankfully involved avoiding all fans. Miley didn't allow herself to relax though, she knew the second she got to school they'd be on her again.

And she was right.

'Look, Hannah's here' someone screamed and Miley didn't bothered to look up to find out who it was. She begrudgingly took her headphones off, knowing she'd get in trouble for having them on in school. She walked straight passed the people who tried to talk to "Hannah". She was aware of them following her like sheep to a shepherd, and she did her best to ignore them. It wasn't too much of a problem. Well it was but she could deal with it.

Class wasn't too bad because the teachers didn't act any differently. It was just like when Jake had been there, she may be Hannah Montana but she was their student, she was there to learn. That was exactly how Miley wanted it.

By the time lunchtime arrived, Miley had relaxed somewhat, finding believing that maybe her Dad _was _right. Maybe it would be all right. She walked into the cafeteria and found the table she normal sat on with Lilly was empty. She did a quick scan to see if Lilly was in there, but didn't think much of it when she saw she wasn't. She wasn't about to go and speak to Lilly anyway.

Miley had just got her lunch and sat down when a girl appeared right in front of her face. Miley didn't know the girl personally, she had only seen her walking through the corridor before. Jessie her name was, Miley knew that from when she'd been talking to friends in passing, and she was a couple of years younger than Miley. 'Hi' Jessie said, with a huge smile. 'I'm, like, Hannah Montana's biggest fan. I totally love you, I can't actually believe you go to my school it's amazing'

Miley stayed silent, hoping the girl would just go away. No such luck.

'Will you sing for us?' Jessie asked. There was a hyper excitement in everything she said. 'Please say you'll sing for us? I love all your songs, especially _Best Of Both Worlds'_

_Ironic that _Miley thought considering they were stopping her having the best of both. 'I'm not singing, sorry' she said politely.

'Please, Hannah, please' Jessie said, she attempted a cute puppy dog look. Before Miley had a chance to answer, Jessie turned to the rest of he cafeteria and got them chanting 'Sing, sing, sing, sing'. Once everyone was chanting she turned back to Miley 'How can you say no to your fans Hannah?'

'My name is Miley' Miley replied and walked out. She hid in the girls toilets for the rest of lunch time, only coming out a few minutes after the bell went when she knew everyone would be in class.

When she got to her class she sat in a corner at the back, trying to get as far away from people as possible. She took to being silent, speaking only when she was asked a question and the second school was over she stuck her headphones in and ran out. She ran all the way home, not pausing until she was in her bedroom.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Lilly found herself dreading school, something that hadn't happened for a number of years. She wouldn't say she enjoyed school, but it was never too bad. Yet now she found herself not wanting to go at all. School was the main place that Miley was Miley. School very very rarely had Hannah problems. Accept for the day of her 16th of course, but that was just one day and that was just Miley leaving the school.

School was now every student seeing Miley as Hannah and not seeing that she's still Miley. School was now Miley not talking to Lilly because Miley couldn't take the truth. School was now hellish and after just one day of it Lilly didn't want to go back to it ever again.

When her alarm clock went off she contemplated faking being ill. She was a naturally pale person, so faking illness wouldn't be too hard for her. She didn't though. She knew no one would know she was faking it, but the point was she would know. She wanted to think of herself as a strong person, she didn't want to let herself hide away because of this. She wouldn't allow herself to avoid a problem, she wasn't that type of person. So she got up and ready for school like normal.

HM

Miley found herself having the same argument with her Dad the next morning before school. Only this time she wasn't hiding in her closet, they were both in her bedroom. This time the screaming fans couldn't be heard from all around the house. This time the silence was terrifying, because Miley knew that they weren't crowding the house because they were going to get at her at school. Or rather they were going to get at Hannah at school. Miley. Hannah. Hannah. Miley. It was supposed to be seperate, always seperate, that was the whole point. She was always trying to avoid this.

In the end Robby Ray one the argument again, convincing Miley to go in and face them, hiding away was going to get her nowhere. She believed that bit of what he said, but everything else she was still doubtful on. She couldn't believe that it would get better with time, she couldn't see passed the fact that right now everyone saw a world famous pop star when they looked at her, and not an unpopular school girl. She hoped her Dad was right though.

Once she got to school, she avoided people as much as possible. She kept her head down as she walked through the corridor to her first lesson, ignoring anyone who tried to talk to her. She knew she would've appeared rude but she didn't care, she didn't want any Hannah mentionings and talking to people would've caused them. When she walked into the classroom of her first lesson, she did a sweeping glance of the room, the teacher was already there and just two other students. One was Lilly. She met Lilly's eyes momentarily and she took her usual sit - which was right in front of Lilly. It was Miley who broke eye contact first and neither of them said anything to the other.

During the lesson Miley was passed a note from the girl next to her which told Miley that this girl loved Hannah Montana and had all her CDs and would totally love it if she dedicated a song to her at her next concert. Miley looked at that girl, who was smiling expectantly at her. Miley simply shook her head and screw the note up, the girl looked disappointed and at the end of the lesson tried to talk to Miley about it, but Miley simply walked on passed to her next lesson.

When lunch time finally arrived, Miley found herself able to get her lunch and sit down with it before she was bugged by anyone. But when she was bugged, it was by the worst possible people. Amber sat on her left and Ashley on her right 'Hi' they both said in a cheery and oh-so-fake voice. 'So how've you been?'

_Since when did you care? _Miley wanted to ask, in a mimic of their voice, but she knew the answer. Since Miley was exposed as Hannah. 'I'm fine'

'Good good' It was Amber who continued speaking.

Miley waited for her or Ashley to say something else. When neither of them did, Miley said 'Not being funny or anything, but what are you doing here?'

Both girls gasped overdramatically. 'Miley' Ashley said 'We thought you could do with a friend since you're sitting here all alone'

'Exactly' Amber continued. 'After all, Lilly's supposed to be your best friend, but where's she right now?'

'Over there' Ashley pointed across the cafeteria, where Lilly was sat with Jackson and Oliver. 'Not here with you.'

'Not a very good friend really is she? Abandoning you in your hour of need' Amber concluded.

'My hour of need?' Miley repeated with sarcasm. She automatically felt like defending Lilly, but she didn't. After all Lilly thought it was her own fault, and Amber and Ashley were right, Lilly wasn't with her now.

'Miley, Miley, Miley' Amber said, 'everyone knows your major secret now. Everyone's screaming for Hannah Montana most of the time. The only reason they weren't now is because we practically run the school and we told them to back off'

'Stick with us and you won't be hounded by Hannah Montana fans' Ashley added.

Miley looked from Amber and Ashley to Lilly, and back again.

HM

Lilly stared in shock from across the cafeteria. It was bad enough that she was being ask by random kids for Hannah Montana facts, added to the fact that Miley wasn't talking to her for the most pathetic reason. But now she was watching Miley talking to Amber and Ashley. Their sworn enemies. She wasn't surprised that Amber and Ashley were shallow enough to love Miley now she was Hannah, but she was surprised that Miley didn't just tell them to get lost. Was Miley so shallow that she would rather become friends with their enemies than swallow her pride and apologise to her best friend?

Lilly turned to Miley's brother, Jackson. 'Can you believe her?' she said.

'I know she's being a nightmare at the moment, Lilly' Jackson replied. 'but I know my sister, fame hasn't gone to her head in three years, she's not going to let her secret coming out change that'

'Fame hasn't gone to her head?' Lilly asked. 'What about your Grandma's birthday last year? She acted like she'd rather be at an award ceremony than seeing her family. That's fame going to her head'

'Fair point' Jackson said, 'but she realised that she was wrong. She's hating that her secret is out, she just wants it to go back to how it was before'

_So do I _thought Lilly. Out loud she said 'She's talking to our enemies though…'

'They approached her' Jackson pointed out.

'Why are you defending her so much?' asked Lilly. 'You're always being forgotten and left out because of Hannah drama'

'She's my sister' shrugged Jackson.


	6. Chapter 5

**I've written Oliver and Lilly getting back together - I don't think they actually split up in the series - but I've written it as if they did because I think the series makes too much of a joke out of their relationship, so I wanted to make it something more real. Please R&R. ly'all, Carly.**

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**Homecoming Queen  
Chapter Five:**

'Oh, my god, Lilly' Oliver said, in a voice mocking so many girls from their school. Him and Lilly were sat on at a table on the beach. 'you've been close friends with _Hannah Montana _for all these years and you _never _said anything. How could you not saying anything? I mean she's, like, the best and most popular teen singer _ever_'

Lilly glared at him and he took the cue to shut up. She knew he was just joking around, the weird boy-humour to try and lighten the mood. Lilly's mood couldn't be lightened though. A week had passed and she was already completely and utterly fed up of this. When she was Lola she was used to being Hannah Montana's friend, but at school her, Miley and Oliver were just three "dorks", all equal in the amount they were hated by anyone who was popular. Now, at school she had, overnight, become just Miley's friend. Most people weren't rude or mean to her anymore because they didn't want to upset _Hannah. _As crazy as it sounded, Lilly would've preferred people were rude or mean than have them being nice because she's friends with Hannah Montana. But that wasn't the worst of it, the worst was what Oliver had sarcastically demonstrated. People kept asking her how she could keep a secret like that quiet, and they kept trying to be friends with her to see what they could find out about Hannah.

She hated it. She wanted to be known for being Lilly, not for being Miley/Hannah's friend. She could deal with mean comments about her, whoever they were coming from. It was acts that were fake that Lilly hated and couldn't deal with. Shallow, self-centred, stupid people like the majority of people at her school. She was Miley's friend, and now everyone knew Miley was Hannah, it meant Lilly would never have the chance to make a name for herself. Lilly Truscott: East Northumberland High number one Skateboarder or Lilly Truscott: Ace Ice Hockey player was extremely unlikely, she was stuck being Lilly Truscott: Hannah Montana's right hand girl.

Worst part was it wasn't even Miley's fault. It wasn't selfish of Miley to have a dream and aim for it, and then succeed in it. It wasn't wrong of Miley to feel like she shouldn't be Hannah in Tennessee her true home. It wasn't Miley's fault. But Lilly couldn't help but blame her. If it wasn't for Miley none of this would've happened, would it? If it wasn't for Miley she wouldn't even have a best friend. It was all too complicated.

'Lilly? Lil… what's wrong?' Oliver asked, serious concern in his voice.

'What?' Lilly asked. As she spoke she realised she was crying. She blinked back the tears 'Nothing' she insisted. 'I'm fine' furiously she wiped away the tears from her eyes and cheek.

'Is it just one of those girl things is it?' Oliver asked, in his jokey tone. 'Random tears for no reason'

Lilly attempted to smile 'Yeah'

'Or' Oliver said, his tone telling Lilly he wasn't stupid enough to fall for that. 'Miley's on your mind'

'How did you know that?' Lilly asked.

'Lilly, I know you' Oliver replied. 'One of the reasons we were so good together was that we knew each other perfectly. You and Miley have been friends for as long as anyone can remember, you wouldn't just be fine with all thing'

Tears threatened to fall down Lilly's face again, but she managed to blink them back before they fell this time.

'Come here' Oliver said, standing up and opening out his arms.

Once Lilly was stood up he pulled her close to him. She buried her head in his chest, trying not to cry. She never realised how much of a comfort just having Oliver with her could be. He was right which everything he had said. They had been good together, and he did knew her perfectly. He probably even knew her better than Miley did, because he could relate to the famous-girl's-friend feeling. She wrapped his arms around him and just stayed there.

'Have you spoke to Miley?' he asked her.

'Not since the day it happened.' she replied, but she didn't want to talk about Miley. Everything was always about Miley, this moment couldn't be. It may've started because of Miley, but it wasn't about Miley anymore and she didn't want to turn it back to Miley. She wanted this moment to be about her and Oliver. Just them. 'D'you really think we were good together?'

'Yeah' Oliver said 'Don't you?'

'I never stopped thinking it' replied Lilly. 'I don't know why we ever split up really'

'We were never really that serious. We were all jokey and silly' Oliver replied. 'We've grown up since then'

'Yeah' Lilly said. It wasn't that long, but it was true both of them had grown up since then. They weren't the silly kids who said "Olly-Pops" and "Lilly-Poo" anymore. 'No one's every understood me like you do, Oliver'

Oliver gently unwound Lilly's arms from him, and looked at her, a smile on his face. He lifted both of his hands to Lilly's face, pushes her hair back out of the way before kissing her gently. It was only a moment before she returned the kiss. It felt right. Oliver was exactly what she needed. The perfect friend, the perfect boyfriend, he wouldn't make things complicated or weird. He knew when to joke and when to be serious. It didn't just feel right, it _was _right.

The two parted naturally, at the same time and Lilly smiled. She hadn't smiled properly for a while. It was a comfort having Oliver there, he was someone who could understand how she felt. She wrapped her arms around him again, feeling less alone.

'You should talk to Miley' Oliver told her. 'She's still Miley, you know, even with the constant fan gathering. Tell her how you feel'

'No way' Lilly said insistently 'It's been a week and Miley's barely even noticed that I haven't been there. She's too busy with her posse'

'If you don't talk to her, how's she supposed to know?' Oliver asked.

_Typical boy _Lilly thought, out loud she said 'For once, I'd like her to notice that something is wrong. I'm fed up of the way she acts'

'I see' Oliver said. 'You know she always tries to do the right thing'

'I know!' Lilly was close to screaming. 'She's just not very good at it'

'I'll second that' Oliver agreed. 'I still think you should talk to her'

'Maybe. Another time' Lilly said.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

Miley couldn't recall making the conscious decision to hang out with Amber and Ashley at school and outside of school. She couldn't place when they had gone from annoying girls who thought they were better than everyone, to people she would actually hang around. She didn't think about it too deeply though, it wasn't as though it actually mattered. All that really matter was that Amber and Ashley always called her Miley not Hannah and they never directly asked for something. They always made the crowd un-crowd her if she didn't want it and they were there for her. After all Lilly wasn't there anymore was she? Miley needed any friend she could get, and Amber and Ashley were those friends.

At first it felt weird, Amber and Ashley were completely different to Lilly. They were the drastic, stark opposite. While Lilly like skateboarding and wearing hoodies and jeans, Amber and Ashley were completely girly, loving dresses and high heels. Miley liked it hanging out with someone who had the same sort of taste in her. Someone who didn't always moan if she wanted to spent hours trailing clothes shops trying on dresses. It was different, but it was growing on Miley daily.

The whole lifestyle of being friends with Amber and Ashley was a change. Both of them had rich Daddies and were proud of it, and while Robby Ray wasn't exactly rolling in it, she had made enough money herself through Hannah to fit in well. Amber and Ashley taught Miley that she didn't need to be so sparing with her money, if there was something she wanted, she might as well just get it. It wasn't as if the money was going to run out quickly. Hannah was still making money.

School was different being friends with Amber and Ashley as well. She became confident enough to deal with Hannah fans, she found nice ways to tell them to get lost and leave her alone. And she had status. Within a couple of weeks she became the school queen bee. Once they had taught her all she needed to know, Miley even became more 'popular' than Amber and Ashley, she was the most loved girl in the school. She became that girl that every other girl wanted to be and every boy wanted to be dating. She became that girl who was completely untouchable. Thanks to Hannah and Amber and Ashley. Maybe, just maybe having her secret revealed in Malibu wasn't a good thing. After all everyone loved Hannah, right?

HM

Lilly hated Hannah Montana. In a fit of anger one evening she grabbed the nearest picture of Hannah Montana, pinned it to the back of her bedroom room and threw darts at it. Yes, it was probably childish and pathetic and ridiculous, but she needed some way of getting her anger out. She had been all set to go and talk to Miley, all set to go and sort it out, get her best friend back. The way she always did, she noted bitterly, Miley rarely came to sort it out after their arguments, even when it was her fault. No, there Lilly was all set to talk to Miley again, and there Miley was with Amber and Ashley acting like she was a million times better than anyone else.

So yes, Lilly bottled. No, she probably wasn't right too. But this was Amber and Ashley, sure Lilly could give as good as she got against them snide comments wise, but now they had Miley and confronting Miley in front of them terrified her. She was sure that Miley would act just like Amber and Ashley. She was sure that Miley would just look down at her and not be at all willing to sort out their friendship. And that hurt.

But mostly at this point, it just made Lilly angry. She picked up the third and final dart and shot it with all her strength at the picture. It hit Hannah right in the mouth. On the teeth of her perfect smile. Along with the first dart which was on Hannah's left eye and the second which was on her right cheek it made a pretty good picture in Lilly's opinion.

She would've laughed, but she couldn't. She hated being angry at Miley. She hated not talking to Miley. She hated the way she could say that she didn't care about what Miley did or said in front of people and truly mean it, but then it would get to times when she was on her own and she'd normally be with Miley and she'd hate it. It was a complete and utter mess.

Lilly had like Hannah Montana's music since before she knew Miley was Hannah, she loved the way there was meaningful songs as well as completely pointless ones. She loved the passion Hannah seemed to have when singing. Now, she had removed every Hannah Montana song from her iPod. She had thrown out all the CDs, and removed any trace of Hannah Montana from her room. But just knowing she was doing that felt wrong. Knowing she was avoiding Miley was wrong.

They used to be the best of friends, they used to be as close as sister. They used to be always there for each other. It was so stupid that this had happened. How could a friendship go from being so amazingly great and loyal to being a complete and utter mess? Lilly couldn't explain it.

In fact, Lilly wished she could stop thinking about it. Every time she thought about their friendship it was the same thoughts. It was started to get like a stuck record playing in her head. As she thought she turned the radio on. It was time for a new song.

'_Want to learn a new tune?' _The voice on the radio said. Lilly was slightly freaked out by how close to her thoughts that was, but she kept listening, intrigued as so where this was going. '_Fed up of singing to someone else's song?' _Wasn't she just. '_Then it's about time you got singing lessons of your own' _

Singing lessons? Lilly thought it was completely crazy. She remembered that time she had recorded a song for her Mom and Miley had edited it so much because she sounded so ridiculous naturally. There's no way a few lesson could help.

'_Think you've got a voice that no one can help?' _The radio voice said. Lilly wondered if he was a mind reader just listening to her voice. '_Been told you can't sing and started listening to people. Do you want to sing anyway? Maybe you're fed up of celebrates like Hannah Montana getting all the attention. If you think you can be just as good come, book lessons now at: 555-3225-19382'_

Lilly stared at the radio in shock. It made sense and yet it was crazy. She had heard her own voice, she had heard cats better. It was terrible, but then surely lessons couldn't hurt could they? What was the worst that could happen?

The teacher could say she was the worst singer she'd heard and that there was no way she could fix her voice and she should never return. Sure that would be humiliating, it would feel terrible, but there was always the change that the teacher wouldn't say that. Lilly wanted to be an optimist, but the type who wouldn't take a chance.

She grabbed her phone and dialled the number.

**I don't know how American phone numbers work, so I'm working from an educated guess, if there's too many/not enough digits, please just ignore it. R&R? ly'all, Carly.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Lilly booked her first lesson for that Saturday and found herself extremely excited about it. She told Oliver the second she next saw him. He was incredibly supportive, automatically thinking - without saying so - that maybe the two of them could do a duet when she was confident and improved enough.

Lilly saw the singing lessons as a win-win situation for her if it worked out. If it worked out she'd been doing something that she enjoyed - because she had always enjoyed singing, she had just never been good at it - and it would make her feel good about herself. But at the same time she could use it as a silent dig at Miley. A quiet way of saying in your face. She felt like she needed to prove - even just to herself - that she could be something more than Miley/Hannah's friend.

When Saturday arrived Lilly found herself up before dawn and try as she might she couldn't get back to sleep. She felt bouncy and slightly hyper despite it being around 5 am and she hadn't have any caffeine or sugar. She kept wanting to 'eep' in excitement. After about half an hour of just lying there not sleeping, Lilly got out of bed. She didn't know what to do, she had too much energy to just sit and watch telly, but her lesson wasn't until 9 and it was so close to home that she wouldn't have to leave until about 8:45.

She thought having a shower might stop her from wanting to bounce around everywhere. She found what she wanted to where before jumping in the shower. While the warm water was in some ways calming, it didn't calm Lilly at all. As she washed her hair and herself she knew she was getting ready for her lesson which got her even more excited. She couldn't win.

Still she knew there was nothing wrong with being excited and hyper, it was better than changing from upset to angry and back again like she had been recently. She was happy to be happy. She laughed as she had that thought, it was such a silly thought and yet it was exactly how she felt.

Because she took her time in the shower, and getting dressed, and then took forever deciding whether to wear make-up or not and what type, it was gone 7 by the time she sat back on her bed. She had decided on wearing black trousers and a red hooded jacket. She had gone for the bare minimum of make-up, wearing a little eyeliner and lip gloss but nothing else.

It was still an hour and a half before her lesson though. She was running out of things to do. She thought about making sure she had everything she needed to take with her but it wasn't as if she really needed to take _anything. _She was going there to learn to sing, all she needed was her voice. She didn't even need her purse because the lesson was paid for in advance.

She grabbed her phone and rang Oliver.

'Lilly, wha-?' Oliver said answering the phone, clearly still asleep.

'Did I wake up?' Lilly asked and giggled. 'You're so lazy Oliver. Honestly, the day is dwindling away and you're sleeping still?'

'Lilly, it's 7:20 am on a Saturday, I am a 16 year old boy, what do you _expect _me to be doing?' Oliver asked.

'Oooh someone's moody' Lilly noted. 'Ok, I'll leave you to your sleeping. Speak to you later'

'Yeah, later' Oliver muttered 'Oh and good luck'

'Thanks' Lilly said, a huge smile growing on her face again. She hung up, feeling even more bouncy than she had before.

HM

By the time Lilly got to the singing lessons she was all by bouncing off walls. She had shocked herself by not being at all nervous. She was doing this for her and mostly for fun, so if it went wrong well, she shrugged, never mind. She just hoped it didn't so wrong.

'Hello Lilly, I'm Claire Drowse, I'll be your singing teacher' the instructor was a young woman, she only looked about 20-ish, with long strawberry blonde hair and a slim build. She both looked and sounded friendly, which made Lilly even less worried. Not that she was worried at all. 'Ready to get started'

'Sure am' Lilly replied with a smile.

'We're going to start with a few basic singing techniques' Claire explained. She demonstrated a scale, which to Lilly just seemed like a lot of 'lalala'ing. Claire wasn't at all patronising when Lilly said that, she admitting that a lot of people who were new to singing thought that. She then went on to explain that a scale steady increased in note, and was a start to helping a person understand differences in a tune.

She got Lilly to try the scale, and it started terribly. Lilly's voice started very loud and quite scratchy and the note she was 'singing' at barely changed as she raised her face rather than her voice. Claire smiled, but still it wasn't patronising. She explained to Lilly where she was going wrong, that she should try singing softly rather than loudly to begin with, amongst other things.

Lilly smiled and tried again, quiet this time. Once again there wasn't much of a difference in notes, and when there was it wasn't an ordered one. Lilly sighed, it appeared this was going to be harder than she first thought.

'Don't lose heart' Claire said, seeing Lilly's sigh. 'It's never easy to begin with, but I have real hope in you'

'Really?' Lilly said, half hopeful, half wondering if Claire was just saying that to make her feel better.

'Yes.' Claire confirmed she meant it 'I think there's a singer in you somewhere and we're going to find her. We'll make a Hannah Montana out of you yet' Lilly scowled. 'Or assuming you're different to all teenagers in the world and you don't love Hannah Montana, how about we just focus on getting you singing in tune to whatever it is you do like, yeah?'

'Yeah' Lilly confirmed.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

Lilly had singing lessons twice a week from then on. She enjoyed every minute of it. She couldn't help but note the irony in that she was finding her form of escapism in music, when music was in a sense the root of her problems to begin with. Ironic as it may be Lilly didn't really care, she loved it. And she was improving rapidly. By the time a few weeks were up Claire suggested going through a whole song. She gave Lilly the choice of what song, worried she was offend her if she picked the wrong one. Claire had to admit she was shocked at the song Lilly chose. Lilly chose _Once Upon A Dream _from the Beauty and the Beast film. While Claire wasn't one to judge, she couldn't imagine toyboy Lilly loving such a sweet movie.

Lilly closed her eyes as the opening music started, getting ready to start singing. _'I know you I da...' _Lilly broke off, realising that 5 words in she had gone wrong. She cursed herself silently and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Claire's reassuring smile.

'It's all right' Claire said, 'we'll just start it again. Practise makes perfect'

Lilly smiled back and Claire started the music from the beginning. '_I know you I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam. I know it's true, that visions are seldom all...' _she cut off again, feeling like she had sung too high at the 'all'.

Claire looked at her 'Why'd you stop? You were doing great'

'I thought...' Lilly started 'I thought I went wrong there?'

Claire shook her head. 'How about this? Sing all the way through, despite the possibly mistakes and we'll discuss it when you reach the end, ok?'

Lilly nodded in agreement and waited for the music to start again '_I know you I walked with you once up a dream. I know you the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam. I know it's true, that visions are seldom all they seem. But if I know you I know what you'll do, you'll love me at once the way you did once upon a dream...' _this time Lilly continued until she reached the '_Once upon a dream' _that ended the song. She looked at Claire worriedly when she finished 'How'd I do?'

'Well...' Claire started.

'That bad?' Lilly asked, disappointed.

'No' Claire laughed slightly 'It was great, especially for a first attempt.'

'But...?' Lilly pressed.

'It _was _a good first attempt' Claire insisted '_however'_ she purposely used an alternative word to but 'like all beginnings there is room for improvement' Claire went on to explained to Lilly that she raised her voice too much at '_You'll love me at once_' and demonstrated in what Lilly thought was a perfect voice how it should've gone. She also pointed out that at a small number of times Lilly had sung out of tune, just by going a bit too high or a bit too low.

Claire then got Lilly to sing a line at a time, singing each line over and over to get in right. It took time, but each time Lilly got a line right she felt a rush of pride. By the time they got to the end of the song the lesson had ran over by about 10 minutes. 'You should probably go' Claire said 'but if you want to run through the whole song one more time, I think my next lesson can wait'

Lilly smiled broadly, and Claire seemed to spend a long time getting the music started. Lilly didn't question, she just waited for the music to start again. "_I know you  
I walked with you once upon a dream....I know you. The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam. I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem. But if I know you, I know what you'll do. You'll love me at once the way you did once upon a dream. Once upon a time, I dreamed we'd be together... In love forever. Once upon a night, I was wishing for a never...A never ending. Once upon a time, once upon a night, Once upon a wish, once upon a dream... I know you I danced with you once upon a night there we were wishing that this dance would last forever all time I hope it's true this vision is more than what it seems. Cause if dreams come true I know what we'll do, we'll dance once again the way we did then upon a dream Once upon a time I dreamed we'd be together in love forever. Once upon a night I was wishing for a never... a never ending once upon a time, once upon a night, once upon a wish, once upon a dream... Yeah yeah yeah yeeeah Once upon anight I was wishing for a never ...  
a never ending once upon a time, once upon a night, once upon a wish, once upon a loooovvve. Once upon a dream. Once upon a dream. Once upon a dream'_

Claire smiled broadly 'That was brilliant' she announced, rather proudly. She looked at the time, noting the time - nearly 20 minutes after the lesson was supposed to finished, 10 minutes after Claire's next lesson was supposed to have started. 'Great lesson, Lilly, see you soon'

'Bye' Lilly said, smiling all over her face as she walked out.

* * *

**If you haven't heard it youtube Emily Osment Once Upon A Dream now! :D! Well R&R first. ly'all Carly!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

Lilly watched Miley closely at school as the weeks moved on. Quickly she saw her go from the mostly-good girl who had been her best friend to an airhead who thought she was better than everyone else. Each time something at Lilly singing class went well she still found herself wanting to talk to Miley about it, whenever anything happened at all she still found herself wanting to talk to Miley. She had spoke to Miley about everything for years and she couldn't deny that she missed that. But she couldn't talk to Miley about anything the way she was being.

When the school started advertising the Homecoming Dance, Lilly instinctively knew it was only going to get worse. People were asked to put forward candidates for Homecoming Queen and Miley was the first name on a lot of people's lips. Lilly had never cared about who was Homecoming Queen, it had never been an issue for her. Nine times out of ten it went to a shallow girl who used it as an excuse to be horrible to people. But every year before this year Miley had had that opinion as well. Now, Miley was quickly becoming that shallow girl.

Lilly was sat at a table in a café at the mall. Miley had come in with a couple of girls from school that Lilly didn't even know the name of. She knew the type though, popular wannabes. They dressed to impress, wanting all the attention of everyone. They clothes couldn't help but get that sort of attention, skirts so short they barely existed and tight tops. Perfect people for Miley to be hanging out with. Miley didn't seem to realise what Lilly knew, these girls were only hanging out with her because being friends with Hannah Montana did wonders for that social status. Or, Lilly knew was more likely the case, Miley was aware of this and was shallow enough not to care.

'Non-fat, sugar free, mochacini' Miley ordered. Adding 'please' sweetly.

'Coming up' the woman behind the till replied.

'Could you maybe, I don't know, hurry it _up _a little?' Miley asked after a short moment. 'I haven't got all day'

Lilly wanted to be shocked to hear Miley talking like this, but it had become so normal for Miley that Lilly wasn't even surprised. She watched as Miley got the drink and walked over to a table after glaring at the woman at the till. As Miley passed Lilly's table they caught eyes for a short moment. Miley looked away almost instantly.

'Is that Lilly Truscott?' one of the girls with Miley asked.

'Yeah' Miley replied.

'I can't believe her' the other girl said. 'It's so horrible how she dumped you as a friend when everyone found our your secret.'

The first girl nodded 'It's so shallow, it shows how she was just using your friendship as an excuse to see famous people. At least _we're _not like that.'

Lilly could hardly believe her ears and found herself acting before she thought. She got up an walked over to Miley's table. 'All right, you stupid little airheads, you listen to me' she said 'I was never anything other than a great friend to Miley. If you want to believe the rubbish she is telling you about why we're not talking then that's your choice. But calling me shallow makes me think of the words pot, kettle and black'

The two girls just looked at Lilly, making no comment. Lilly turned and started to walk away. That's when the comments came. 'What a cow' one said. 'totally' the other agreed.

Lilly found herself walking around to try and calm down. She could deal with the Miley/Hannah drama at school. She could deal with not having Miley as a friend anymore. She could deal with stupid airheads. But the one thing she couldn't stand was people lying about her. Walking didn't help calm her down at all, the more she walked the more she thought, and the more she thought the more annoyed she became. What gave those girls the right to assume the had the first clue about anything? Did they know anything about Miley?

After a while, Lilly just headed home. She didn't know what else to do. She didn't want to see Oliver and moan about Miley again. She knew Oliver didn't mind, but she felt like all she ever did was moan about Miley to him and she didn't think that was fair on him. Once she was at home, Lilly stuck music on quite loud and sung along to it. Singing calmed her down and improved her mood dramatically. A feeling that was only emphasised as she remembered she had a singing lesson the next day.

HM

At her singing lesson, Lilly asked Claire whether she'd be able to write songs anytime soon. Over the couple of months that she had been having lessons Lilly felt she had learnt a lot about music. She could read music without hesitation and could pick out different instruments in piece of music. She could recognise a note when it was being sung, so she felt she'd be able to write lyrics to go with music.

'I shouldn't see why not' Claire said. 'Take it slowly at first, though. The chances are the first few things you write will go disastrously. Now, I don't mean that you won't be able to do it, I just mean that it's… normal. The first few times you try to do something it goes wrong and you learn from your mistakes sort of thing. And you've been learning pretty quickly since you've been having these lessons so I should imagine you'd be able to write good songs pretty soon'

Lilly smiled gratefully. She felt like she owed so much to Claire.

HM

When Lilly got home after her singing lessons, she sat down to write something. From what Claire had said she thought that practise would make perfect. She didn't have a clue what to write though. She thought about writing something about how she felt about the whole Miley situation but she was in too good a mood to write something like that.

In the end she just jotted down a few tuneless lines that she hoped she'd be able to shape another time. 'Got my own dream, got my own plan, got my own style, got my own way' and 'Not going to cry anymore' she wrote.


	11. Chapter 10

**For Paula - for bugging me to update when I practically abanodoned all fanfic.**

**Chapter 10**

At her next singing lesson, Lilly took her notes to get Claire's help. She had a basic tune and a few lines, but there was no structure to it and she needed someone who really knew music to help her get it right. Her notes were odd lines like 'I wish I could fit in' and 'I don't think about it' and 'I won't cry for you' 'wish it would be all right'.

'I'm trying to write something about Hannah Montana' Lilly said, after she had asked for Claire's help. 'It's a long story really, but to put it simply Miley Stewart was my best friend before her secret was revealed. You live around here, you know what it's like, everyone has pretty much got used to Hannah Montana being a local resident, and Miley gets whatever she wants whenever she wants it. When her secret came out we had the pettiest, most ridiculous argument ever, it was completely meaningless but we haven't spoke properly since.' Lilly hadn't spoken to anyone about how she felt about Miley for a number of weeks. Everyone thought she was fine with it now, she had even let Oliver believe that.

'I'm fine with it most the time, I've got used to most people thinking I'm a cow for not talking to her now that everyone loves her. I'm used to people thinking I'm the shallow one because they think I was only friends with her for the perks of being friends with Hannah, which is so not the case, I have to add. I was best friends with Miley for years before she became Hannah Montana, nothing changed when I knew.' Lilly corrected herself 'Well nothing changed once we got pass the initial shock and argument. Most the time I'm fine with it all, but then there's times when I'm not. There's times when I still miss Miley and wish she was still my best friend. There's times when I wish all this hadn't happened. Most the time I'm fine though, that's what I want to write. That's why I thought "I don't think about it" could be the main point of the song, maybe constrasted with the "I wish I could fit in" but I don't have much and I don't know what else to add

'Does this make any sense?' Lilly finally paused for breath and let Claire speak.

'It makes perfect sense' Claire replied, with her usual reassuring smile. 'You've got a good basic start for a song. How about this...?'

HM

It took the whole lesson and half of the next one, but between the two of them they got a song that had the effect Lilly wanted from it. They used Lilly's basic idea and the song ended up being called 'I Don't Think About It'

'Ready for a run through?' Claire asked after they put the final touches on it. Claire was providing the backing music by keyboard synthesiser.

Lilly nodded and Claire started the music.

**I don't think about it, I don't think about it  
Misunderstood everybody feels that way sometimes Oh oh oh oh  
I wish I could Fit in with all the rest, but I Oh oh oh oh  
Got my own style Got my own way  
I don't care what people say, yeah **

Singing this was different to anything Lilly had ever sang before. This was truly hers. This wasn't someone else's idea or someone else's words that she liked, this was her idea and mostly her words. This was her first song and she sang her heart out for it.

**cause I don't think about it  
I don't think about it, I don't think about it  
Bein' myself there ain't no doubt about it I won't cry any tears  
I'll just live without fear, I'm so happy cause  
I'm living my life and I don't think about it **

She didn't want to be famous, she didn't want to be popular, she just wanted to get by. She just wanted basic things like friends, love, happiness and she knew that with that nothing else really mattered so she didn't need to think about it.

**A shooting star twinkling across the sky at night  
Oh near or far  
I'm wishing everyting will be alright Oh oh oh oh  
Got my own dreams Got my own plan  
Gonna get there any way I can **

Lilly had never known what she wanted to do with her life, she had never really been passionate about something. Miley had had her career as Hannah Montana, and even had acting work. Oliver had his band. Heck, even Rico had his stall so would probably end up working in business, rolling in money. She had joked once about going into teaching, now she thought a bit more seriously about it. One thing she was sure of, she wanted music in her life.

**cause I don't think about it  
I don't think about it, I don't think about it  
Bein' myself there ain't no doubt about it I won't cry any tears  
I'll just live without fear, I'm so happy cause  
I'm living my life and I don't think about it  
Got my own style Got my own way  
I don't care people say, yeah  
cause I don't think about it  
I don't think about it I don't think about it  
Bein' myself there ain't no doubt about it I won't cry any tears  
I'll just live without fear I'm so happy cause I'm  
Livin my life and I don't think about it  
**

Lilly would've easily admitted that it wasn't the best song ever. The lyrics weren't great, they were extremely repetitious. It took her point across though, and she was proud of it. A few months ago she couldn't sing to save her life and now here she was with her own song.

**I don't think about it, I don't think about it  
I don't think about it  
Bein' myself there ain't no doubt about it I won't cry any tears  
I'll just live without fear I'm so happy cause  
I'm living my life and I don't think about it**

Think about it Think about it  
I don't think about it

Cause I'm living my life and I don't think about


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Homecoming Dance". Posters announcing it started to fill the school corridots. Lilly was dreading it for the same reason Amber, Ashley and another wannabe by the name of Alicia (was it an A name thing, Lilly wondered) were overexcited about it: Hannah Montana. Almost the second the homecoming dance was announced the "Hannah for Homecoming" campaign started. In a week the three As had a perminent stand in the lunch hall trying to convince people to vote for Hannah, along with badges, posters and goodness only knew what else. Not that people took much convincing, someone famous went to their scool, who else would they be voting for? Lilly couldn't help but notice that throughout the compaign apart from teachers no one said "Miley Stewert" it was always "Hannah Montana" not that "Hannah" minded. She was stilling loving all the attention.

'You should run' Oliver said, a week into the run up to homecoming, nodding at a poster.

Lilly snorted 'As if' she replied. 'Run the humiliation of no votes? No thanks'

'I'd vote for you' Oliver told her.

'So would I' Jackson added.

'Really?' Lilly asked. 'You wouldn't vote for your sister?'

'No way! More fame and attention is the last thing Miley needs right now' Jackson replied. 'I'm trying to find a way to get her out of the limelight without destroying her and without her hating me. It's like I don't even know here anymore. You know how close her and Dad used to be? She barely talks to him anymore, she never listens to anything he says. She's forever going against him and he hasn't got a clue what to do. She had the best of both words for three years and nothing like this ever happened before. She always kept Miley and Hannah seperate, now it's like she can't. She thinks she can get away with whatever she wantes because she's Hannah Montana. That's not my sisters' he added 'So no there's no way I'd vote for her'

Listened to Jackson, Lilly had been so lost in thought that it took her a moment to realise what he meant about voting. Miley and Robby Ray had always been so close that Lilly had been jealous of their relationship. Sure they argued like all parents and kids but in the end Milley relied and depends on and loved her Dad more than anything. In spite of everything that had happened the idea of Miley shattering her relationship with her Dad left Lilly in shock. She hadn't thought about it but she knew that if she had she wouldn've been almost sure that Miley wouldn't have changed how she treated her Dad. Not after everything Robby Ray had none for her, he was the reason Miley had become Hannah in the first place. He made it possible.

'And it'smore than that' Jackson continued. 'She's being so stupid with monday. It's not just clothes and make-up and stuff that she's buying unnecessarily. She's being ridiculous; she brought a car'

'A car?' Oliver repeated.

'Yeah' Jackson nodded 'A mercedes bends'

Lilly stared at Jackson. This time the shock was only momentary. That sort of thing fitted right into the way Miley was acting at the moment. If Lilly had been paying attention to what people were saying when there were talking about Hannah Montana she probably would've known about the Mercedez before but she always tuned out when people talked about Hannah.

'Personalised number plate and all. Miley1'

'Originial' Lilly muttered sarcastically, surpirsed it wasn't "Hannah1"

Jackson and Oliver both laughed though, like Lilly, ut was clear neither of them really thought there was anything funny about it. Jackson apologised for going on about Miley knowing they must be fed up of hearing about nothing but Miley/Hannah. Automatically Lilly told him it wasn't a problem. What she didn't tell either of them was that she was glad that Jackon had said allof that because she now knew she wasn't the only one who was upset, confused and angry with the whole situation. She now knewshe wasn't the only one who didn't think having Hannah Montana at school was the most amazing thing ever. It would've seemed obvious to them but Lilly had found it reassuring. She couldn't explain that to the boys and it was at times like this that she missed having a girl to talk to about things.

HM

That afternoon as soon as school was over Lilly headed home. She couldn't get the whole Miley situation out of her head. After the conversation she had with Jackson at lunchtime she needed some time alone to think. The second she was home she grabbed her skateboard and safety gear and headed straight back out and to the nearest ramp. For years skateboarding had been the thing she did when she needed to think uninterripted. She found it easier to think while constantly moving than she did just sitting and not doing anything.

Down to start - Lilly hated that she still felt some sort of responsibility to Miley. Like she should find a way to show Miley what she was doing.

Up the other side - She understood why she felt like that. It was obvious to her; all those years of friendship still meant the world to her even if they meant nothing to Miley.

Down that side - But how was it fair to her that she felt like she had to do something. How was it fair to her that she kept getting hurt and confused when Miley wasn't even aware of it?

Up - it wasn't fair but since when was life fair? All the love and heartbreak and pain and trouble and arguments and illnesses and no ends of problems, none of it was fair. This was just another of those unfair things.

Down - The question was did she want to be friends with Miley again? After all this, even if she could make Miley see sense did she want her as a friend still?

Up - Of course she did. She hated how she felt but she still loved Miley like the was her friend and she still hated Hannahfor the effect she'd had on their friendship.

Down - What could she do? She couldn't talk to Miley, aside from the fact that the three As or a boy were always with her, even if Lilly could get Miley alone she knew Miley wouldn't hear her out. Talking wouldn't work.

Up - and then it hit. The one and only thing that Lilly could think of that would get through to Miley.

Down and the second she was off the ramp she sped home.

* * *

**A/N: No offence meant to anyone with a name beginning with A, I don't believe that it just fitted. I know some great people with A names. R&R please?**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

It took Lilly a while to convince Mr Corelli to let her sing at the Homecoming Dance. He had been so sure than Miley would be singing. In the end Lilly did manage to convince him that Miley would want to enjoy Homecoming as a break from singing, and anyway since when did the Homecoming Queen sing? She promised she would do a cover of a Hannah Montana song and gave the teacher a demonstration of her singing. In the end that won him over, he was amazed and just couldn't say no.

The night of the Homecoming Dance went predictably. Miley Stewart was announced Homecoming Queen, and soon the time came for Lilly to sing.

Nerves filled Lilly as she walked out onto stage. The fact that there was a look of horror on most peoples faces didn't help, she wasn't surprised though, Of course everyone wanted Hannah Montana singing up there, after all this was homecoming and she was homecoming queen. Still, Lilly did her best to ignore everyone's face, she did her best to forget the last time she had stood on a stage in front of her school and how disastrously it had gone. How Miley had saved the day then. No, she wasn't going to think about that, she didn't need Miley to save the day. She needed to sing this song.

'Lilly's going to sing a cover of a Hannah Montana song' a teacher told the audience. 'Which one Lilly?'

Lilly took a deep breath 'Actually, I'm singing an original song.' she added 'Hit it Oliver' before anyone had a change to say anything, and with the first beat she started singing.

**Little short skirt with the big attitude  
She wants to be a model, wants to be on the tube,  
Yeah, it's one thing or another she's trouble, trouble  
Watch out if your near she can bring you to tears**

Lilly dared to look out across the hall. Amazement now filled most peoples faces. She had them. She was good and then know knew it. She purposely didn't look at Miley's face, she needed to get through this song before she could do that.

**She's got two boyfriends and three wannabes  
They follow her around like she's Aphrodite  
Yeah, she's number one a-rated but she's already jaded  
And she's following the trends in her Mercedes Bends**

Lilly found herself really into her song. She didn't care whether people liked it or not, she didn't care about anything in that moment. She was truly lost in the music.

**Everyone wants to know her name  
Walking down the hall she's every guys dream**

Her heartbeat increased as she approached the chorus. This was going to get some sort of response, but Lilly didn't really care. She was almost glad that it was bound to get a response.

**I hate the homecoming queen  
I'm pretty damn sure she can't stand me  
Her face is on the cover of a magazine**

As she sung that line she raised her arm, which was holding a magazine, showing a picture of Hannah Montana on the front. There was a number of gasps and hushed comments throughout the hall. And still Lilly didn't look at Miley.

**I hate the homecoming queen tonight  
That's right**

Lilly dropped the magazine and lifted the microphone off its stand. She danced up and down the stage as she continued.

**Non-fat sugar-free mochacini  
She says give it to me now, you can keep the recite  
Drinking one after the other, she's trouble, trouble  
tossing back her hair and she just don't care**

Lilly thought about what her inspired her to right this bit. When she had had a go at those girls making comments about her at the mall.

**Everyone wants to play her games**

A true fact that really annoyed Lilly.

**Walking down the street she's every guys dream**

Lilly smiled secretly. Not _every _guy, just most. Oliver was hers for the keeping.

**I hate the homecoming queen  
I'm pretty damn sure she can't stand me  
Her face is on the cover on a magazine  
I hate the homecoming queen tonight**

By this point Lilly purposely avoided eye-contact with everyone. She was pretty sure the only reason she wasn't being booed off the stage was because of the teachers around. After all everyone loved Hannah Montana.

**She gets everything she asks for  
but she's somehow always wanting more  
**

Again shockingly true. But worse than that, Lilly had realised when she wrote this song, was that it wasn't that Miley had become like that when the secret was out and she changed. No, it was something she'd always been like, in her own subtle way.

**Little short skirt with a big attitude  
She wants to be a model, wants to be on the tube  
Yeah it's one thing or another, she's trouble, trouble  
Watch out if your near, she could bring you to tears**

Miley had brought Lilly to tears, a number of times in the past few months. The worst part was she wasn't even aware of it. She wasn't aware of anything, since that stupid, petty argument they hadn't even spoken.

**I hate the homecoming queen  
I'm pretty damn sure she can't stand me  
Her face is on the cover of a magazine  
I hate the homecoming queen **

Lilly was glad she had dropped the magazine, and had the microphone in her hand. She was pretty sure that had she still been holding the magazine, she would've ripped up the Hannah Montana picture, right there in front of everyone.

**I hate the homecoming queen  
I'm pretty damn sure she can't stand me  
Her face is on the cover of a magazine  
I hate the homecoming queen tonight  
that's right, yeah yeah.**

Through avoiding looking at her, Lilly hadn't noticed Miley making her way forward while Lilly had been singing. Miley and Lilly's eyes met and Lilly's anger faded. She knew finally, Miley got it.

**The End.**

**Who wants a sequel?**


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